Day at the zoo for fundraising torch

a five-year-old schoolboy raise thousands of pounds for charity by taking part in a virtual Olympic torch relay.

Lorraine Cowan and her partner, James Gould, won Logan’s Torch on ebay and took it along to Dudley Zoo for a photoshoot, where they met primates in Lemur Wood and said hello to a mob of meerkats before joining birds of prey in the courtyard of 11th century Dudley Castle.

The unique paper torch is making a round-the country relay, after being sold on ebay by its creator five-year-old schoolboy Logan McKerrow, of Somerset, who hit on the idea after seeing authentic Olympic torches for sale on the internet for thousands of pounds.

His homemade torch has been bought and re-sold by dozens of people helping him raise money for Hearing Dogs for Deaf People charity – with more than £20,500 raised in just a few weeks.

Lorraine, aged 31, of Dudley, said: "James and I wanted to help Logan raise more funds so we bid on ebay and won it for £33.46 which was made up to £42 via Gift Aid.

"We also wanted Logan to see where Dudley was on the map and thought what better place to show him than Dudley Zoo.

Zoo head of media and communications, Jill Hitchman, said: “We were delighted when Lorraine contacted us – what a brilliant idea to send the torch on its way for such a fantastic cause. We arranged for them to take the torch across the site and they really enjoyed their time with us – particularly Lemur Wood where the small primates couldn’t wait to get their paws on the torch.”